The Collinsport Chronicles XXXV: Wedding in Blood
by Maryland Rose
Summary: Jake, angry because Tammy has rejected him and wants to marry Joe, plots his revenge with Iris' sister, Violet. Richard Zimmerman, Julia's cousin, arrives at Collinsport
1. Chapter 1

Laura could not escape in spite of her having lured Zeb King by posing as an U.F.O. Xavier Davenport married Sandy as he thought he was dying to keep his predatory children from inheriting his pet project. Derek gave part of of life force to Xavier and is no longer a vampire. George promised Iris that he would make Violet give up custody of Peter. Hallie is pregnant. Barnabas tried to get Nunez to face himself by bringing thim to Munsungan, but he Nunez was not ready for it, and he is catatonic now. Megan read the riot act to Carolyn.

* * *

WEDDING IN BLOOD

Chapter 1

"Don't stay too long in the sun" George told Derek. "Or you'll end up doing a great boiled lobster imitation."

Derek grinned sheepishly. "I know. But I have been away so long that, well, I want to make up for all that I missed."

"Same way you got sick from eating all that chocolate?"

"Well, I wasn't _that_ sick."

"You were. I got quite a description from your landlady."

"She..." Derek blushed deeply "She had no right."

"No, she didn't. But that's what landladies are for, to gossip, and keep the police informed on every little thing. And then you are now a local celebrity, kind of."

Derek made a face "I wish they did not act as if I was...God knows what. Maybe I should be grateful they did not make me into a tourist attraction."

George grinned. "If they made you into a tourist attraction, you'd find a way to make money out of it."

Derek had to agree. "Well, I do have expenses. Grocery prices have gone up astronomically. How's anyone supposed to live?"

"Actually, they are kind of stabilized in the past months."

"You call that stabilized:? The last time I shopped..."

"The last time you shopped was in Richard Nixon's first term. You are still thinking of those prices."

"Well..."

"I am afraid that you'll just have to learn to manage your money differently now that you have other expenses."

"Maybe you could give me a raise. A cost of living raises, since my cost of living has gone up."

"I'll see what I can do. But, Derek, don't try to tell me that I am your only source of income. I an not _that_ credulous."

"All right. I have other sources of income. But there is something that I thought I could do, and now I have to postpone it."

George understood. "Your salvage plans for the Russian ship?"

"Yes. I already got a serious investor"

"You actually managed to get somebody to believe you?"

"Yes. And it _is_ true. There _are_ jewels down there. And if you were not so skeptical, you could invest in it, too."

George shook his head. 'No dice. I read my horoscope today and it said to hold on to my savings. Which means, do not buy Florida swampland, and don't try to salvage Russian ships."

"But where is your sense of adventure?"

"I got more than my share of it in this town.. Seriously, Derek, how would it look if I got taken by you? I'd be the laughingstock of the town."

"But it is _true_! I can show you proof!:"

"Maybe another day. Now I have to go. Got an errand to run."

* * *

Violet paced. They were going to take Peter away from her. Mental incompetence or some such excuse...

And if she didn't, she would be jailed for kidnapping, for, as Brant had explained to her, her nervous breakdown came after she had committed the crime, so the insanity defense might not hold... She could be made to have been sane enough when she kidnapped Iris and Tammy...

And they meant to give Peter to Iris! Iris of all people! So that she could rub it in, as he always did...

Iris always made her feel inadequate... How she hated her for that!

But she had to give in. If she wanted to be free, she had to give up Peter...

Not that he cared that much about him. But to have Iris beat her thus...

Suppose she fought it. Suppose...

Suppose she ended up in jail, and lost custody of Peter anyway...

Jake watched her, aware of the rage smoldering in her. Burning as bright as his own rage...

How cold Tammy throw him over for a honky? The bitch... he would make her pay...

"Somebody did you dirt, didn't they?" he asked Violet.

Violet nodded. "They are taking my son away from me. Saying that I don't care for him, that Iris will be a better mother than I... Always Iris!"

"And Tammy won't have me, the bitch." Jake said "I am not good enough for her."

Violet kept pacing, more and more frenetically.

She turned to Jake. "You help me and I'll help you" she said.

"How?"

"Let me out, and I'll punish Tammy for you."

* * *

"Tell me " Julia bent over a miserable Zeb, who was there under threat of divorce from Jessica. "Where you sexually assaulted as a child.?"

"What...?" he stated at her. "How do you know?"

"Nothing else fits. Others hate homosexuals, but to the extent to do what you did. To the extent of stepping into the same trap I stepped into years ago, when your uncle... died... It has to be something in childhood."

"Why in childhood?"

"Because anything that happen then has no context, no reference, no experience to serve as a cushion. You cannot put it into perspective, because you don't know what perspective is. It becomes the most important thing, the only important thing in your life... So when confronted with something that brings it back, nothing else matters, but settling that old wound."

'What was your wound?" Zeb looked at her curiously.

"My cousin leaving me. He was the most important person in the word for me. Even thought I was older when he left, I did not get over it. Nothing mattered but getting him back.."

"And Barnabas?"

"I tried to turn him into Richard. Or a Richard substitute... Oh, I told him I wanted him for scientific purposes. But if I had been that cold, that calculating, I would have kept better control of him. I would have confined him to his coffin the first time he stepped out of line. And I would have run very painful experiments on him... But that was not the reason... I wanted him to become Richard for me. And he never did.. But to me, nothing else mattered. I broke every rule I lived by as a doctor. And I refused to see what was obvious...Well,. I learned... And because I learned, and paid a high price for it, I can help you now. Thankfully, unlike me, you did not kill anybody. Buffy is alive."

"Not thanks to me."

"No. I take that Frank did beat you up badly."

"Frank beat me up, Both Barnabas and Megan bit me painfully, and now Jessica is threatening divorce."

"Well, you went over the line in a big way. I know. I went over the same line. And let me tell you, the way back is hard. But it can be done... "

"And how do we do it?"

"First we do something about your obsession with going after homosexuals, to punish them for the man who raped you... You know, most of them do not go after children. Both George and Barnabas would be horrified by it. But you look at them, and you see the man who abused you."

"Yes."

"Good, we have something to work on. We have to teach you to put into perspective, so that you won't again be tempted to help someone like Laura to punish your rapist."

They went on. It was painful for Zeb. And for Julia too, because she had to revisit her own pain. But, she thought, if she could help Zeb, then her own pain was worth it. And it paid her debt, in part...

After all while, Zeb got up, shaken, and left. He would be back. It was a painful way back, but as Julia said, it was worth it.

Julia sat alone for a few moments, composing herself. She had finally understood why she had done the things she did in 1967. It did not excuse her, but it made sense at last.

Richard was a the heart of it...

And now Richard was coming to see her, at last.

A knock on the door announced the entrance of George Brant.

"Was that Zeb?' George asked.

'Yes. He's trying to get his head together."

"Hope he does. I am tempted to charge him with something, just on general principle."

"There is no need. He knows how badly he crossed the line, and he is scared of himself."

"Plus the beating that Frank gave him. That must have hurt."

"It did. But no worse than his consciousness of his own failure as a human being."

"Well, I hope he straightens up. I would hate to think that I might have to shoot him in order to keep him from bringng any more disasters on all of us."

"You came to tell me that?'

"No. To tell you that I am admitting a John Doe to the clinic. "

'John Doe?"

"The same John Doe that you had a few months back... the one you tried to kill... I hope you don't try that again."

'You mean that Nunez... Comet.."

George told her of what Barnabas had done. 'Maybe Nunez was not ready for what Munsungan showed him. Maybe he would never be ready. In any case, he needs more care than Barnabas can give him at the Old House."

"And you expect me to heal him?"

"Do what you can. Just don't kill him. I am serious, Julia. I know that it is hard, but try to do your best by him."

"Damn it. Just as I was getting accustomed to Comet, Barnabas pulls this on me. And now I have to care for that... that fascist..."

"I am sorry. Julia. But I could not think of anything else to do with him."

Julia took a deep breath.. Why had Barnabas taken Nunez to Old Munsungan? Why complicate things? Why rush it?

She looked at George and understood. Because George could not leave well enough alone and had pressured Barnabas to Do Something...

Well, when Richard came, he'd probably have something to say about it. And maybe Nunez would die, without her being involved in it... Richard would do it, without being asked to.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Here I am." Barnabas told George "the father of the bride."

"Did Tammy ask you to be the father at the wedding?"

"No. She's bringing in an uncle to do the honors. I am just a friend. It is right that way. I can play at being her father, but I am not."

"And what does the uncle say about her marrying a white man?"

"He's not thrilled about it, but is willing to accept it. Anyway, he's an Innes, which is how she wants it. I am the secret in her closet, which she does to come out."

"Which means that you will not be giving her your mother's jewelry as a wedding present."

"No. I learned my lesson. I may be giving them a sleeper sofa."

"How can you afford it?"

"The same way I can afford anything else. One more expense will not make that much more of a difference."

George shook his head. "One more expense... Barnabas, you are hopeless.!"

"Come on, George. She is the closest thing I have to a daughter, and she's getting married. I can't imagine a better reason to spend money."

* * *

Julia wondered how Richard would look. Of course, he would be unchanged. She was the one who had changed. She ran her hand over her hair. Too many silver strands in it. And her baby, due to come soon. What would Richard think of her? Would he recognize her?

She had loved Richard hopelessly, ever since she could remember. Because of that, she had told herself at some point that she loved Barnabas. It was not Barnabas' fault that he could not be Richard... Her love for Barnabas had waned. Had her love for Richard waned too? Or was it hidden in her, in wait to see him again to flare anew?

She had become disillusioned with Barnabas because he did not fit her image of him. Would Richard disappoint her too? Would he be different from her somewhat childlike, overawed image that she had built for herself?

He would come after dark. And dark was a few hours away. Why was she so impatient? She had waited so many years to see him again. She could wait a couple more hours too...

Yet the last minutes are the ones that stretch the longest. Months, years could pass and you could take them in stride, but suddenly five minutes become unbearable., and a half hour the definition of eternity.

What would Richard think of her? Would he approve of the way she had conducted her life? Or would he be subtly disappointed?

And the minutes ticked away, and she could not think of anything else to do.

Kenneth looked at her, up from his magazine. "This will not help" he said. "try to keep yourself busy."

"I can't I am too nervous to sustain interest in anything."

"Give it a try. Start writing your Christmas cards."

"It is a bit early for that. And they should be Hannukah cards."

"So start doing it leisurely."

"I am too nervous This is just too important to me."

"I know, you haven't seen him for ages and you wonder how the meeting will go."

"We were so close... you can't imagine how close."

"Yes, you two had no other family, thanks to Hitler."

"I was the only one left... Somehow it was as if I had to make it up to him for all the others. I had to be them for him. We were utterly dependent on each other..."

"Yet one day he walked out of your life."

"Yes. Maybe he realized how unhealthy that dependence was. Then, he was involved in Mossad work and it was dangerous. He could be vulnerable through me... He did not want me tied down to him. Because as much as it was not important to him, he still was a vampire, and I should be around normal people."

"And you managed to tie yourself to Barnabas."

"As I said, I tried to do to him what he tried to do to Maggie. We both failed."

"Julia, give him time to get here. After all, he can only travel after dark.

Julia nodded, but still did not believe Kenneth. Richard should be here by now.

"I feel kind of jealous." Kenneth confessed. "Barnabas was bad enough, and now I find that Barnabas was only a stand-in for another, and that the real thing is going to show up. I am not sure how I am going to take it."

He knew that there was something formidable in this unseen relative of Julia, something to be found in neither Barnabas nor Megan. As for Derek, even when he was one, you barely thought of him as a vampire...

It was a while. A long while. But eventually their doorbell rang.

Julia jumped up and ran to the door._he_ was there, at last.

Richard stood there. Tall, dark, and handsome. And young. so young...

* * *

Amy looked with surprise at the man calling on her. He looked like Quentin, true, but he had changed. He looked... older. Yes, he seemed to have aged, no so much physically as mentally.

"Amy?" Quentin spoke softly. "Don't you recognize me? Have I changed so much?" And when he spoke of changing he sounded glad."

"Quentin? Is that you?" For the first time Amy saw Quentin as more than the perpetual adolescent with a talent for getting into everybody's way. "Yes, you have changed. I can't figure out how."

"Somebody did something to my portrait.' Quentin said. "Set me free of it at last, and let me find my way. I am still looking for it... I can't describe how it is, to be able to be free of your past, to change, to make something of yourself after wasting so many years...

Quentin was gushing enthusiastically about his change, his newfound sense of purpose, and Amy listened to it patiently. Later on, Quentin might stumble on some of the drawbacks of change, but after being trapped for so long, he could see nothing but good in it.

"Amy I heard that you might get married."

"No more. It did not come off." she sighed. "Peter was not the person I thought he was. And I don't think that he could cope with the kind of family that he would be marrying into. I think that I wanted to marry him mostly to get out of Chris' life. But now that he's married Oriana he's a lot easier on me. He understands at last that I have to go my own way."

"They are going to adopt, don't they?"

"Yes. Chris had himself vasectomized so he cannot have his own... I hope it works out between him and Oriana. It didn't with Sandy, who was secretly pining for Barnabas."

Quentin nodded. "Amy I came to see you because I need your help."

"My help?"

"I have to find Adam. He disappeared. He did not answer my letters, and the last one I sent him was returned with no forwarding address."

"Couldn't you ask Angelique?"

"I don't want to go to Collinsport. Not until I make something of myself, and can walk there with my head held high."

"So you want me to read the cards for you?"

"Yes."

"I can do better. Do your remember Sebastian Shaw?"

"He used to be Angelique's lover. And before that, Roxanne's"

"Yes."

"He lives nearby. And he's a rather good psychic. He does not charge much."

"I never had that many dealings with him." except for that caper with the mask... but being in the power of Judah Zachary did not count as an introduction...

"You pay him, and he'll deliver it. I know that Barnabas used him to fin Iris and Tammy. So I know that he is good."

* * *

Julia did not come to, yet. Richard was rubbing her temples and smiling shyly.

"It has been a long time." he said to Kenneth "It did not seem so, but it was."

"She's been all excited over it." Kenneth said. "She kept telling me all about you, over and over. I think that she was not sure that you'd come at all."

"I tried to stay out of her life." Richard studied Kenneth critically. "You said that she told you everything about me."

"Yes." he knew what Richard meant. "that you are like Barnabas Collins."

"Barnabas Collins?"

"Didn't Julia tell you about him?"

"No. What about him?"

"She is a good friend of hers. And a vampire."

Richard did not react. He evaluated this piece of information. Julia's husband did know about him. And he sounded awfully tolerant. And then this Barnabas Collins...

"Being a vampire is not the most important thing to know about me." Being a Mossad assassin was more to the point, he thought, Someone might come hunting for him... but he had covered his tracks well.. Still...

"She told me the rest. But she had to tell me that so that I would not be surprised at the way you look so young after having raised Julia."

Richard nodded. "Yes. she had to tell you something. What about this Barnabas Collins:? Is it because of me that you react so easily to me?"

Kenneth nodded. "I was a complete skeptic on these matters. Then I moved into this crazy town. We have two other vampires apart from Barnabas... Well, one, Derek has become human again. We had a werewolf, but he moved to Florida, with his sister, who is a Tarot card reader. We have a witch. We had a phoenix. We've had cases of possession. We have Quentin Collins, who was given eternal youth. We have..."

"A pretty kettle of fish." Richard finished for him. "Kenneth" he said wearily. "Don't expect me to be like them. True, I am a vampire, I need to hide from the sun and I need blood. But there are two things that are far more important. The first one this. "he pulled up his sleeve to show his tattoo. "That's where I learned what true ruthlessness is."

"And the second one?" Kenneth had shivered at the tattoo, The horror that it represented could not be ignored. He had read about it, seen dramatizations. But seeing it...

"I have worked for the Mossad. And I did not grow any softer. I have killed many times. Never for blood. I killed for Eretz Israel, and what it meant to me and every other Jew...I hope to be done with killing, but, it might well be that you can take the man out of the Kidon, but not the Kidon out of the man."

"Kidon? what is that?"

"It is a newly formed unit of the Mossad, for assassins and such. It means point of the spear... Or knife. I am a knife, a weapon, Kenneth."

Julia stirred. "Richard?" she asked.

"I am here, Jewel" Richard said softly.

"Jewel." Julia said wistfully "It is you, then. No one else ever called me Jewel."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Vicky was going over figures when Barnabas flew in.

"I was waiting for you." she said. "I got things to discuss. After you feed, of course."

It did not take long, and she went over what she wanted to say afterwards. His own curiosity was piqued. And he was also amused to reflect how their relationship had evolved over the years.

He finally let her go and wiped his mouth. "What is it?"

"Number one, I think that it is time we set up a food pantry here. People have to be able to find food when their money runs out. I have been researching on how to set up one."

"You want me to lobby Maggie?"

"Given the relationship between the two, it might make more sense if we lobbied Sabrina, promising that if she helps us set it up I will arrange that you do not come closer than fifty feet of Maggie.. Sabrina thinks that the two of you together is a disaster waiting to happen."

"Given what happened last time we met, I can understand why she feels that way. Although that was not really my fault. It was this stone that Yolanda put on me..."

"Sabrina will feel a lot better if the two of you never meet., Her job is to keep Maggie out of trouble. And you are Trouble, with a capital T."

"Well, I will agree to keep away if Maggie helps us set a food pantry...I can tell you that after my last experience I can sympathize with people who suffer from hunger a lot more than I used to."

"Yes. So do I. Having to go to a food pantry is no fun. But worse is having no food pantry to go to. And we got people in need right here.."

"I know." he sighed. He had done a bit of helping out.

"That's one thing. Here is the other." She pushed a wad of bills to him.

"What is it?"

"A percentage of what my students pay me. The ones who called me after you told them that I was available."

"But... but you don't need to pay me... After all, I take your blood..."

"And that's why you get a smaller percentage than I would give a regular referral service. But you deserve to be paid."

"But we are friends."

"Yes. We are. But we are in something that involves money. I prefer that it be on a business basis. This way, if there is a falling out, we still have business to transact."

"Do you pay Megan too?"

"Ours is a business relationship." Which was true, as Megan was backing up the adult education center that she planned to have. "Barnabas, you do no realize what it is that you created, what you have now."

"What is it?"

"A network. People being in contact with each other, finding what they need from each other... Barnabas, people pay to get into networks. And you have one set up, with all the people you feed on.. I want to use it, fully. And believe me, for all that a network can do, the blood is not adequate payment." she put the money in his hand. "This is more like it. I _want_ you to continue doing it. I _want_ you to be aware that you may be sitting on a potential gold mine. And I _want_ you to spend the money wisely."

"Which means that I should not invest it in Derek's salvage expedition, looking for Russian jewels?"

"No." Vicky laughed. "Although, I checked the records, and there were Russian smugglers around here during Prohibition."

"So, it might be true, after all?"

"Yes. Might be true. But you'd have to trust Derek Pearce..."

"A big if." He pocketed the money. "Thank you. "

* * *

Julia wept unashamedly. Like a girl, a little girl. But she was not, and that was why she cried.

And Richard was affected, too. By the silver strands in her hair, by the lines on her face, but her pregnancy...

She was not little Julia anymore. Nor young Julia, the student. He had kept her image as she had been when he had gone away. But life had not stopped for her. She had "known" it then. But for real?

"I'd like to meet this Barnabas Collins. He sounds interesting."

"He is."

"I have not met other vampires, not since Cosmo., the poor son-of-bitch... I have rubbed shoulders with all kinds of people, dangerous people, nasty people. But all human. I guess we are very rare.."

"We have three... No two. The third is human again..."

"Well, maybe we can get together and share experiences."

"Barnabas' experience was quite different from yours. Or Megan's. Megan has run across other vampires.."

"Well, I will talk to her about it. Is she in town?"

"No. She is out. She may come back later. But Barnabas is here."

"Good."

* * *

Violet stared out of the window, her eyes hard, her hands closed into fists.

And behind her was Jake, her eyes hard, too.

"I could make things easy for you." she said.

Jake did not answer.

"Just leave the door open, don't close it well. I'll take care of the rest."

Jake was still silent.

"Do you want Joe Haskell to marry your woman? Do you want him to get away with it? For how long are you going to allow white men to steal your women?"

Jake tried not to laugh, to remind her that she was white, too. He did not. He kept seeing Tammy and Joe...

"I don't want her." he said suddenly "I don't want her at all. If she wants to turn her back on her brothers and sisters, if she thinks that a black man is not good enough for her..."

"Then she can die, too?' Violet asked.

Jake shook his head. No, he did not want to kill Tammy. He was angry with her, wanted to teach her a lesson. But kill her?

"Let me out of here, and I will settle your scores for you."

"It does not work that way, Violet."

"It is going to work. Just let me out."

"Even if you got out, what good would that do to you?"

"I'll kill Iris, then she won't be able to steal Peter from me."

"But you'll go to jail."

"No. I am insane. They will just return me here. And then I'll be cured and I'll walk out of here."

"It may take much longer. And they'll take your child away, for sure."

"Iris will not get him which is what matters."

* * *

Julia had finished telling her story to Richard. She had confessed the worst of it, and was relieved not to see condemnation in Richard's eyes.

"I have done so much worse, little Jewel. And condoned much worse. I thought that it was for a good cause. Maybe it was at the beginning. But I made too many excuses, and one day I had to take a hard, hard look at what I was doing...You heard the news."

"The massacres at Lebanon?"

"Yes. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I had seen things, done tings that I know that I would have condemned if there was no Eretz Israel involved... I am no saint. I began my career by throwing poor Cosmo to the wolves. I did it knowingly. I _knew_ that they would come for me. I _knew_ that Cosmo would pay for it. He had befriended me, he had given me a place to hide, and a way to strike back. And I... I deliverer him to the Nazis... And then when Israel was born I thought that here it was, a good cause, something worth fighting for and defending."

"It was."

"It was, and still is. But love cannot be blind. Love must be able to see when the loved one is wrong, and to speak out. I did not. It was easy, given my condition, to find my way into the Mossad, and to believe that we were always in the right, and that means did not matter if our ends were pure... well,, I finally learned that it was not so. And..."he pulled back his sleeve. "that I cannot let this tattoo determine what my life should and should not be. I will acknowledge it. I will honor the memory of those taken. But I will not deny either what I learned ever since."

Julia hugged again.

"So, don't be ashamed of yourself, nor afraid to tell me the worst. Believe I have done worse."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Barnabas could not disguise his awe in Richard's presence. Richard felt a bit odd about it. He did not feel that special. He suspected that Barnabas saw him through Julia's rose colored glasses...

And he was the first vampire he had ever met since Cosmo...

He decided that the best defense is a good offense.

"So you killed the Woodman, eh? Too bad. I was fond of him. A pink triangle, of course. Not that it mattered, except that he has leading Julia on. I had a talk with him and warned him to stop, or I'd break every bone in his body... And I would have done it."

"It is a pity about him." Barnabas said simply. "And a pity about Julia's part in it. The only excuse was that I was crazy. Real, certifiable crazy."

"I suppose you were. Years of sensory deprivation will cause it."

"It was my father's idea of solving a problem. Put it under lock and key and pretend that it does not exist."

Richard grimaced. "You still have not forgiven him."

"No. I cannot. It is a miracle that I regained my sanity.; And sometimes I wonder if I fully regained it."

Richard nodded.

"I see. You were warped by your experiences, as I was by mine. I am now trying to break free of it."

"Julia told me of your... experiences."

"Yes. I lived several lifetimes of horror in a few years. And that horror clung to me for too long. I let it define me. Until I finally realized that I was going to be the last one to ever remember it. The perpetrators are dying. The survivors are dying... I have a lot of memories, but less and less people to share them. And I have new memories to make room for... And I have to grow a conscience."

"But you have a conscience."

"No. Not for a long time. You have a conscience. What I have is a handler."

"A handler?"

"Sorry, you are not in a service of intelligence... A handler is the officer in charge of an agent or an informer, or an assassin, like me. He was the one who told me who to kill. At first he told me why, and make it seem like a worthy action. Later, he did not bother. He just gave me the name, the photo, and what the problems I might expect in my mission. No argument about right or wrong. Eretz Israel demanded that death, and I delivered. I have killed many, Mr. Collins. Never for blood. Always under orders... In the war I killed Nazis, but those were fair game. They were killing me and mine. They were justified. but those others, I trusted that my handler knew right from wrong... I did not begin to have doubts until later... until I wondered if Eretz Israel was always right."

"And not always."

"Not always. But I found out that it was not my place to question. My place was to kill under orders. I was... Kidon." he spoke the word with bitterness. "A knife. A weapon, deadly, but innocent, because it has no sense of right and wrong...Mr. Collins, you may have done many wrong things, but you always had your conscience. It might have been twisted, dormant, or bent out of shape. But it was yours. I abdicated mine. Because of my pain, my need for revenge, my idealism, or what was left of it, my desire for a happy ending. I traded my conscience for a handler. And now I wonder if I can get one at last."

"I know something of the pressures you were under, I was a witness to some of it." he told of his experience in Parallel Time, with Roxanne...

"She sent you away. She was right. She loved your... your innocence. And you'd have lost it with her. Eventually you too might have traded your conscience for a handler. No, it was right that she spared you, while she still could."

"She still caught in there. Maybe she too traded her conscience for a handler."

Richard sighed. "So you see, I am the last person to pass judgment on you on the matter of the Woodman. Although as Julia's cousin I might want an accounting of the way you made her suffer. But moral judgment? I cannot make any. I am sorry for him. He impressed me as a nice young man. I liked him, in spite of what he was doing to Julia... Well, he had his... preferences, and they gave him some trouble, I guess."

"I had no idea that he had run into trouble."

"He was too good a doctor to be a G.P. in this boondock. He probably had a brilliant career ahead of him, and he was caught with his pants down, ,so to say, , and was made to give it up, and accept the job here. Well, it is done. You made your peace with it, and so did Julia. As I hope one day to make peace with my past."

* * *

It was exceptionally warm for December, Hallie thought as she walked downtown. The sun warmed her, letting her know how pleased it was with his servant, Hallie Collins.

The child was growing inside her. Laura had been defeated once more. Loomis, who could have exposed her, was dead and no suspicion attached to her. Barnabas did not have an inkling of what was going on..

Zoya was the only worry left to her.

She frowned. Zoya was going to give her trouble. She had been too busy at the time to check on her, after she had gone, reputedly to attend a family gathering... Now it bothered her that she seemed to have lost contact with her...

She knew that Zoya was not happy with her position and wondering maybe if she was the next one to be sacrificed.

She did not want to tangle with the Romano tribe. She had imposed a seal of silence on Zoya. But a seal could be circumvented sometimes. And Zoya may be using the power of the Romanos to hide her whereabouts...

She could not afford to be careless. Laura, with centuries behind her, with all her powers, had been defeated by Barnabas. She did not have centuries behind her. She had defeated Yolanda Overton, and had thus gotten hold of an extra source of power. The she had killed an old drunk who was a threat to her, and then she had prevented Laura's escape from her prison.

This was not enough if real trouble came her way. If she was careless., she could end as Yolanda did...

She'd better do something about Zoya before she sprang a surprise on her.

* * *

Sebastian looked at Quentin warily. He _was_ from Collinsport and he did not like that. He wanted, desperately, to forget Collinsport and everybody in there.

He had had little contact with Quentin himself. Not until Roxanne... or what looked like Roxanne had brought him to try to use Zachary's mask.

Precisely what he wanted to forget.

"A friend told me that you were living here and that you might be able to help me."

Sebastian shook his head. "I don't think so, Mr. Collins."

"It has nothing to do with Zachary's mask."

"No?" Sebastian asked, coldly.

"A friend of mine disappeared. I want to know what happened to him. If he's alive, and if he's in trouble."

"Why not ask Angelique?"

"I'd rather not go to Collinsport. too many things there that I don't want to see again."

The words struck a responsive chord in Sebastian. Yes, too many bad memories. Still, it could be a trap, or...

He used his powers to "read' Quentin. He had "read' him before, and was surprised at the changes he found. It disconcerted him. Was this the same Quentin he had ran across then?

"Mr. Collins, it would be better if you were to tell me more about it. Tell me in detail. I want to make sure that I am not getting involved with Zachary again."

"You are right." Quentin agreed. "You can't be too careful about these things."

* * *

"You don't think that Violet will be willing to sign any papers." Iris said to George.

"No. I tried. So did Julia and Barnabas. There is a mulish stubbornness in her that we cannot get through. It is as if she does not care about herself as long as she can hurt you."

"I do not know why she hates me so. She has been mistreated in the past, but not by me. I tried to help her as I could. And she repaid me that way."

George did not comment that Iris attempt at rescue were seen by Violet as a way for Iris to make her feel inadequate. Iris had this manner of hers that made people feel that in her presence. Violet had grown with that, and had resented it all her life...

But that was not to the point. The point was how to help Iris get custody of Peter.

"There are other legal remedies. I know this judge. She is the one that made it possible for Barnabas to adopt Urien. I will talk to her and see what can be done."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Breathe out. In. Out. Stretch. Stretch."

Julia panted. "Do we _have_ to do this?"

"Yes. We do." Buffy said. "It is good for you."

"Hah!" Julia said. "Exercise is bad for you. It is just a shortcut to the grave. Haven't you heard of people keeling over dead while jogging? They dehydrate, and instead of taking a breather and drinking water, they just go on."

"Don't talk. Stretch. Stretch" the instructor said. "Keep at it. It is good for you."

"Don't tell me what is good for me!" Julia snapped. "I am a doctor."

"If you know so much, how come you are out of shape? Look at you. Flabby tights, rolls, too much fat, not enough muscle. You are in bad shape doctor. How do you expect to have an easy delivery is beyond me."

Buffy laughed under her breath. Back to normal, at last. With Laura gone, she could watch how he Teutonic manner of the instructor clashed with Julia's stubbornness. These natural childbirth classes were more fun that "Three's Company."

* * *

"This is the one I told you about. Captain Nunez of the Argentine army."

Richard studied the man lying on the bed, curled into a fetal position, eyes out of focus.

'You know that Israel sold arms to Argentina." he said, more to himself than to Barnabas. "Israel is also friendly with South Africa. I am hardly what you would call a moral referent in this case. We compromised too many ideals along the way. And I.. I abandoned mine. So, I say it to you again, do not expect moral judgment from me... I am _very_ inadequate for the job..

"Still, something has to be done about him."

"Well," Richard looked at Nunez again. "What about him What do you want done with him?"

"Put him back on his feet. Make a human being out of him."

"Why? He might be incapable of it. And why ask me? I never considered giving a Nazi a second chance. Why should be different here? Maybe there was not enough in him from which to make a human being. Accept your failure and move on."

"I am responsible for him. He is my patient."

"Why did you accept the responsibility."

Barnabas explained about Nunez and Norma.

"I killed Norma. She trusted me and I killed her. I could not let her Nunez get away with it. So I did something about it."

"Turned him into a dog." Richard smiled. "I like that. Should have stayed that way."

"But now, he is like this."

"Your debt was to Norma. You made it possible for her to be at peace. You do not need to do more."

"I feel responsible for him, too. I said that I would make a human being out of him."

Richard sighed. :"I wish I was more like you, capable of gestures like this. But I look at this and I think what's the point? He is not going to get better. He saw himself. He saw the lies that his life was. And he had not enough of a decent person in him to put himself back together. He learned how much of himself was a lie and there is no truth in him to build a new self around it... It is dome. Some things are not meant to be."

"Julia tried to kill him a while back. I am afraid that..."

"That she might try again?"

"Yes."

"Not while I am here." he smiled a bit cynically. "She hopes that I will take care of it for her, without saying a word. That I will do the killing and not let her know that I did it."

"And you will?"

"No. Because,, she will know, and she has enough scar tissue from crossing that line already. She may tell others that she has no idea. But she will know. And she does not need one more wound." He looked at Nunez. "He does not take that much space, and needs only minimal care.. Let him stay. Who knows, he might get better on his own."

"You don't believe that."

"Stranger things have happened. Who knows, you might come up with another brainstorm..."

* * *

"I wonder what it will be like being married." Tammy said. "To be Mrs. Haskell instead of Miss Innes."

"I too wonder what it will be like to be a married man." Joe mused.

"If you have any misgivings, if you want to call it off.."

"I don't. Do you?"

'No. But I keep worrying... My family might have some trouble accepting you..."

"I realize that. But I think that they'll end up accepting it."

"Yes. And so will your family."

"Don't have much of one...And the ones that are there are not that close, and they figure out that a former mental patient can't be very choosy.."

"Joe!"

"Hey, it is true... Tell me, when your uncle comes, can you keep him from figuring out what's the matter with Barnabas? Megan can agree to stay out of the way, but Barnabas is bound to make a nuisance of himself."

"Well, let's hope that he sees reason. If not, we may have to ask Megan to confine him to his coffin until he comes to his senses."

* * *

Why not let her out? What did he owe to Tammy, to Joe, to Iris?... Iris always looked down on him when she was here...

What did he owe Barnabas?

He might lose his job over this, and that was bad. He saw it on TV. Whole families in trucks, in cars, all across America, looking for jobs. Not just poor people. People with degrees, with seniority, who had worked all their lives, who had noting but contempt for 'welfare bums'. Then suddenly the floor had caved under them, and they had learned how it felt.

That was what could happen to him if he let Violet out.

But if he was not caught at it... If it seemed like she had surprised him, hit him over the head, then they could not blame him. They'd feel sorry for him, and he'd get to play on their sympathies.

Now, how could that be arranged? And how to arrange for her not to be caught before she dealt with Tammy and Joe?

* * *

"We are going to have our own wedding party. " Xavier said. "And we'll notify the kids."

'What will they say about you marrying again?'

"A lot of complaining about not respecting their mothers' memory. But in reality, worry that their inheritance will not be as great as they wish... I do wish I had raised them better..."

"You think that they might make trouble for me?"

"If they do, I'll threaten to cut them out of the will for good."

* * *

"What is it, Julia? Richard did not measure up to your memories of him?"

Julia gave Kenneth a poisonous look, the smiled. "Yes. I guess that it was childish of me, that I still looked at him with childish eyes."

"He's seen the world and he did not like what he saw. He's disillusioned. And he does not have all the answers."

"I know...I know."

"And you can't fall in love with him again."

"I did not want to."

"Julia, please, it would be strange if you did not want to revisit your youth"

"All right. I wanted him to be the old Richard."

"Why did you expect him not to change? You have changed, too."

"But he does not look it."

"The big change is inside. He's no immune to it. And then, you are not a child anymore. You notice things that you once overlooked."

"Still, it is a shock."

"Specially if you compare him with Barnabas."

"Don't be silly. I don't compare him with Barnabas."

"You did, at first. Wasn't that why you fell in love with Barnabas?"

"Well, yes." Julia admitted reluctantly..

"Only Richard is not incredibly better than Barnabas. In some respects, he is Barnabas'' superior. In others, Barnabas comes off better."

Julia had to agree.

"Barnabas changed, but not your initial beliefs. No matter what Barnabas did, Richard was _so_ much better."

Julia was forced to agree to this.

"So it came to pass that after all those years you got to see both of them together. Richard is not all-wise, all-knowing. He's been around. He's learned a few unpleasant truths, and they have taken a toll on him... Maybe it was there all the time, and you did not want to see it."

* * *

He was there. Patterson was in Collinsport. George stared at him. He had said nothing in his last letter about coming back. Why had he shown up?

Sure on vacation. But why would anyone want to spend Christmas in cold Maine?

Maybe he had come hunting. At least he had brought guns with him and a checkered shirt... Acting the part, as it were..

"Hello, Patterson." George greeted him.

Patterson looked at him with disdain. "Hello, kid."

"Have you come hunting?"

"Yes. Migratory geese."

"Not Canada geese, I hope. I think that they are still in the protected list."

"No a different kind of geese. I think that they are called brants. I am here to shoot brants."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Barnabas studied Nunez.

"What am I going to do with you? Why don't you respond? Why do you just lie there just like that? I can understand the guilt you feel. But to refuse to make a new life for yourself... Why can't you make yourself move?

Nunez did not answer.

Barnabas shook him. "You understand, don't you? You know that I am here. Why do you choose this? Why can't you be sensible for once?"

Nunez had in himself the power to snap out of it, to be alive again. Why didn't he use it?

He knew about guilt. He knew how it cold cripple you, even destroy you. And Nunez had plenty to feel guilty about. But that was no reason to give up. To take the easy and melodramatic way out. Just like Captain Todd. Atone in an act of violent bloodshed against yourself. Well, even if it was his right to do so, there were other ways. He ha not taken that way himself, even if had plenty of reason to do it. He had not given in to guilt. Why should Nunez do it?

Maybe because Nunez had more guilt. Or maybe because he did not have the inner resources to rise above it...

Maybe he should abandon Nunez to his fate. Maybe Richard was right about that.

But maybe, if he tried harder, he might be able to break through to him.

* * *

"How did it go?" Angelique asked Megan.

"Very well. The client is happy with the results, and he was generous."

"That's good."

"And what happened here when I was gone.?"

"Carolyn is negotiating with the worker's representative, and agreed to a review on how to prevent sexual harassment."

"Good for her."

"Tammy is marrying Joe."

"At last! Those two belong together, and I knew it from the start."

"I hope that their marriage works better than mine."

"Which marriage? To Barnabas, to Roger, or to Schuyller?"

"To Barnabas, I mean. The others don't count."

"Well, I do hope the same, that they resolve their problems without trying to kill each other, or putting curses... By the way, I realize you and Barnabas are still married..."

"No, it was until death do you part. Since we both died, then we are not married anymore."

Megan smiled. "As long as you remember it. What else happened?"

"Xavier is throwing a part to celebrate his marrying Sandy."

"Yes. He got married in extreme circumstances and could not have a proper party for it. So he has it now. I might have to come up with a gift."

"And Julia's cousin came back to visit her."

"I did not know that Julia had a cousin."

"It is a long story" And she told it.

Megan frowned. "He confessed that he worked for the Mossad? And that they did not know that he was a vampire?"

"Yes. He said he covered his tracks well."

"They knew. There is no way they would not know. And now he's looking for other vampires?"

"Yes. So that he can know more about what he is, and what it is like for others."

"No. So that he can sell them down the river to the Mossad."

"He left Mossad."

"They don't let vampires resign from intelligence services. No way. That's the second lie he told." She opened her gun "And he's been asking questions? Did anyone give him my name?"

"Barnabas did"

"Of course. Barnabas does not know how to keep his mouth shut." She put silver bullets in his gun. "I would go and kill him now, but I want his handler. Because unless the handler dies, there is no point in killing Richard."

* * *

Violet sighed.. It was no use. Iris would win again, and she could do nothing to prevent it.

Iris had always won. Ever since they were children. The apple of mother's eye. While she, Violet, had to be content with the leftovers.

And now it was her own child that Iris was about to steal. She had even talked that faggot Brant into helping her...

It was a physical pain, tearing her throat and the inside of her chest. She sobbed. Dry sobs. Why did Iris always win? Couldn't she lose once?

"Mrs. Upton..." Jake said behind her.

Violet turned slowly "What is it?" Jake would not help her, and if he did not, what was the point?

"I have been thinking of what you said."

"You will help me, then?"

Jake nodded.

Violet hugged him.

"But we have to be careful about it. Make our plans. I do not want you recaptured before... before you do what you have to do. And I don't want to lose my job over it.

Violet grimaced.

"It is going to be a while to arrange it. You see, it is not only leaving the door unlocked. It is getting you something to wear, so you won't be seen outside wearing an hospital gown. It is arranging transportation. And giving you pocket money."

"And a gun. Or a knife, at least."

"Yes, to use it on Tammy and Joe."

"Do I kill them?"

Jake hesitated for a half-second "Yes." he said. "Kill them both, they deserve it. Specially Joe. I want to wipe that smile off his face. He has no right to smile like that in my presence."

"Do I cut Barnabas, too?"

"He certainly deserves it. But no, it would be too risky to make the attempt. He's not that easy to kill."

"What about Dr. Hoffman?"

"No. She pays my wages."

"Too bad. I'd like to cut her too. The way she looks at me, as if she did not believe a word of what I say. She thinks that I am trying to fool her."

Jake sighed. This was not as easy as he thought it would be. He wondered if he should not let the whole thing drop...

But he thought again of Tammy in Joe's arms. In bed with him. White skin against her black skin. A white man, doing what white men always did, take the black women for themselves...

* * *

"I see gypsies" Sebastian said, his eyes half-closed "But I don't see this man, Adam. It is fuzzy. He is lost...lost to himself."

"Lost to himself?' Quentin could not make sense of it.

"And I see a hand."

"A hand. Petofi's hand! And gypsies!" Quentin shouted. "That's it. Petofi's hand is involved, somehow"

Sebastian looked at him reproachfully. He had lost track of his vision.

"I am sorry." Quentin said. "But what you said struck a chord. It has to be Petofi's hand. Adam knew about Petofi, he had his diary, not to mention what Tate told him. He must have gone to look for the hand, what for, I do not know. And something happened to him."

"It might be so." Sebastian sounded uninterested.

"Can you try finding more about it?'

"It will take time. You broke my trance and I will have to reestablish it. Not today, anyway."

"All right. I'll come tomorrow."

* * *

"Well, back to class." Buffy said, seating herself next to Julia.

"Yes. Back to the grind." Julia breathed hard "I don't know how you do it."

"The exercises, you mean? They are easy."

"No, being so cheerful, so gung-ho, after all you went through."

"Went through, and it is over. Laura can't escape. My baby is doing fine. Why should I not be?"

"True." Julia admitted.

"And how is your cousin doing?"

"Very well."

"I guess it was a shock seeing him again after all those years."

"Believe me, it was."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The more she found out, the less Megan liked it. Barnabas had given names, as he had not learned caution. Her name, Derek's, and Verhoff. And the children.

They should be warned. Vampires had not escaped slavery to sorcerers to become the slaves of spy agencies. They had earned their freedom, and they were willing to kill to protect it.

Killing Richard would not solve much, if he had given the names to the handler. The question was to identify the handler.

Verhoff and Cecily should lean of this, surely. And the other children... They could take steps to protect themselves, If needed they could disappear and adopt new identities.

She better find out what she could about the handler. And for that she needed to get closer to Richard...

...Would Barnabas understand why he had to leave Colllinsport and adopt a new identity in a strange place? Would he be willing to? If he valued his freedom, he would have to.

* * *

"I have not seen your girlfriend for a while" Barnabas commented to Urien.

"We broke up." Urien answer. A curt answer that meant he did not want to talk about it.

But Barnabas had to find out. "Would it be too much to ask why?"

"No. Not really. We never were that close... and there are other girls, and..."

"I thought that when I was your age... Oh, that was quite a long time ago. About two hundred years ago... I am old, Urien. I do not look it, but I am..."

Urien stared at Barnabas. "You mean that you liked girls, then?"

"Yes. I was actually going to marry Josette du Pres... and... it has been a long time since. That's part of the story of how I got my fangs..."

The grey cat came by, asking for attention. Barnabas picked it up and scratched its head. Nothing could clear a black mood faster than a purring cat, he thought. It was something else that he had learned...

Urien nodded. "Well, you had to at some point. That's how you are Tammy' great great great grandfather."

"Yes. But please, do not mention it to her family when it comes to the wedding. I am a rather shameful secret. The honky in their closet... I mean, they know that at some time there were children conceived by rape, but to run across the rapist..."

"You did not rape her ancestor."

"I did. Not forcibly. But she was a slave. For her to refuse was to be beater. It was the way of things, and I did not question it then... Well, Tammy has forgiven me. But I have to stay strictly in the closet."

"And in the closet for what you do with George.."

"George is the one in the closet. He is afraid that the voters will kick him out."

"And when did you stop liking girls?"

"I still like them. But I cannot have a steady relationship with them. Either they want too much or too little... George takes me as I am and accepts the limitations a relationship with me brings..."

"And you had not trouble adapting to... to doing it with a man?"

"I had had to adapt to worse things, Urien. I had to adapt to these... he tapped his fangs, and I had to learn how to live a useful, meaningful life as I am, not as I might be if I ever were cured of my condition..."

When had he stopped referring to it as a curse, and starting calling it a condition, as Megan did? It had been not so long ago, when he had taken stock of what he had, and realized how many blessings he had.. And when he stopped bemoaning the past lost to him, and become aware that if he had kept it, he would not have so much that he now enjoyed...

It was always a trade-off. And there was much in his new life that he did not want to lose.

The cat became restless. It had taken all the cuddling and petting he wanted, and now he wanted to do other things. Barnabas let the cat go and watched him walk away, its tail high in the air.

No, he could not bemoan his condition, not anymore.

* * *

"Aunt Iris." Peter asked a bit plaintively. "Why do these people come and ask me all these questions about mother?"

Iris hesitated. How to explain to a boy of Peter's age - and experiences - that they were trying to prove his mother incompetent. For all the trauma that Peter had undergone, for all the lousy parenting that Violet had done, Peter still loved her. She was still her mother.

"Is mother coming back? Is she taking me away? She and Delia?"

No, she realized. Peter might love his mother. But felt better if she was not close.

"No, she is not. Delia is not coming back ever."

"But why do they ask me these questions?"

"Your mother is very sick. She is still sick. They want to make sure that you are well cared for while she is away."

"But you are taking care of me now, are you?"

"yes. I am."

"And I can stay with you?"

"Of course you can."

"So how come they are still asking questions?"

* * *

A gypsy tribe. Even without Sebastian, Quentin knew what Adam had run into. He had wanted, for some reason or another, to get hold of Petofi's hand. And that hand was likely to be the property again of the Romano tribe.

Adam had certainly gotten himself in trouble.

No one had bothered, evidently, to explain to Adam how dangerous tangling with the gypsies could be. He must have thought that stealing the hand was easy.

Only it wasn't. Petofi's hand was not Petofi's diary, to be picked up for money at an old book sale.

Poor Adam...

It was up to him, Quentin, to help him, to save him if he could.

And it surprised him that he could, he the eternally spoiled brat, suddenly accept so willingly the responsibility for another human being.

* * *

"I saw Patterson in town." Barnabas told George.

George grunted. He knew that Patterson was back in town. He was painfully aware of it.

"I had an uneasy moment. It seemed like he was sheriff again, and that he suspected what I was up to. I imagine that by now he has me figured out."

George could not help but smile, even a bit grimly "Brought you back didn't it?"

"Yes, it did."

"Same here. I almost called him, 'sheriff'. Me.. It was more of a reflex than anything else. It made me feel like he had caught me breaking windows."

"Did you break a lot of windows when you were a kid?'

"Not many. But I _did_ get into trouble.. And Patterson was the sheriff for so long, I could not imagine anyone else on the job. And now..."

"He has a strong personality, doesn't he?"

"Yes. He does." He hesitated, then decided that he might as well tell the whole story. "He's blackmailing me, actually."

"Blackmailing you?"

"Yes. I did no want to call it that way." he ground his teeth. "It is not a nice thing to say about a man that you looked up to as a kid. But I have sending him money ever since I met him in Florida, for some investment of his. He never made the threat explicit. But he managed to say that he had figured Dave out, and me too. And what the voters might say in the next election."

"And you paid?"

"It was not the money that bothered me. It was not even being blackmailed. It was that _he_ was doing the blackmailing. I could not accept it. I made a lot of excuses for him."

"Are you going to do something abut it?"

"I am going to call his bluff. Tell him to tell everyone, and let the chips fall where they may."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Barnabas opened the trunk and took out the white, age-yellowed dress.

It had been Naomi's wedding dress. It would have been Sarah's wedding dress. But it had never been used again. As for Naomi's wedding, whatever it was that the beautiful silk and lace had promised, it had not come true.

The dress was so old fashioned, the fabric so old and frayed... And anyway, it would not fit Tammy.

Still, it would be nice if he could give her this for her wedding. A way to keep up the father charade with her...

True, she was not a Collins, she did not claim to be. Burt still,, she wanted somehow to acknowledge Tammy...

A bit of tradition never hurt anyone...

Wryly, he thought that following tradition meant disclaim any paternity for Tammy. A black girl, for God's sake. A slave in a Southern plantation. That was not to be brought back home.

But that was over, real over. Why go on about it? Because he had become a guilt junkie?

No wedding dress. How about jewelry? There were still some pieces, a necklace that would look so well over her dark skin..

But Tammy would not accept jewelry from him, and that might mean saying that she was a Collins, and she did not wish to be.

Maybe the lace veil. Such delicate fashioning. How could Tammy refuse to wear it?

* * *

Verhoff's eyes were cold. So were Cecily's. And the children stared mutedly behind them.

The children always made Megan uncomfortable. They always did. She knew that it was not their fault that such a thing had happened to them, but she could not control her reaction.

"We have to assume that Barnabas gave your names." she said. "You have to disappear."

"Richard Zimmerman, while he lives, is a danger to all of us." Cecily said, softly.

"It is not so much him, as his handler. We need to find him. Or her." Megan reminded them.

"There is an automatic deaths sentence for what Zimmerman does." Verhoff reminded her. "You can carry out the sentence yourself, if you wish."

"I said that I'd prefer to track down the handler, and see how much they know." Megan temporized. She did not want to make an enemy of Julia, and she would be if she killed Zimmerman. "We can convince him to turn over his handler. Then he could not return to them. He could tell us much about the Mossad, and..."

Verhoff shook his head. 'No. As long as he lives we are in danger. He knows that we will never accept him. He might play along to buy himself time. But his first loyalty will always be Mossad, and he will return to it."

"You cannot know that!" she protested.

"From his history, I can tell that he sees himself as a persecuted Jew, a Holocaust survivor first, and a vampire a distant second. His loyalty will always be Israel, which he serves as a Mossad assassin. He will return to it. And he will offer us as a gift to Israel.. We could never trust him. I know we have taken other former spy agencies slaves. But they did not wish to be what they were. They had been forced into that life, and wanted to escape it. Zimmerman is where he is because he wants to. And we are so much meat to be delivered to him. _He must die_."

"I cannot do it myself." Megan said.

"We will provide the executioner. Veronica can do it."

"Veronica?" Veronica was an efficient killer, And she looked like an angelical little girl. Last time she had seen her she had the most sweet pink dress, a ribbon on her hair, patent leather shoes... and was carrying a severed head... It had been a sanctioned execution, not a wanton killing. but the image did not leave her.

"Veronica." Cecily worried about Verhoff seeing Veronica. She had been one of those who experimented with the aging process. She had had four years added to her appearance, which had overjoyed her. Verhoff would finally find out what had been going on...

So what? It was happening. He could not stop it. The information was out there, and any child could use it as many times as he or she dared until they got the body they yearned for. There would be a confrontation soon, when she, Cecily, went for the treatment. Verhoff would not take it kindly. But he would have to live with it. Cecily was done with being the dutiful Viennese daughter to Verhoff's charades.

One worry was at the back of her mind. Veronica was overjoyed. The bitterness that ruled her was in retreat. Would this also destroy her edge as an executioner?

"I would like to find out more about him first. I think that I can get information out of him."

* * *

"I have this theory about Christmas." Buffy said to Frank. "It is an endurance contest. First you are supposed to shop for gifts, which means getting inside crowded apartment stores, stand in line forever, feeling the heat as you are still swaddled in heavy coats, smelling the perfumes they keep spraying to tempt you to buy, listening to the same Christmas carols over and over, until you think that if you listen to the little drummer boy once more you will go on a rampage. When you survive that, you come home, remembering more gifts to buy the next day, and that you have to write Christmas cards to people you only remember that time of year. And then go to the Post Office because you need stamps, stand in line again, listen to Charismas carols, which sound more and more lugubrious each time... Then plan for the party...

"But Christmas finally comes."

"Yes. and then you collapse, glad to know that it is over, and you won't have to do this for one more year..."

'You described it perfectly."

"How this have to do with a religious experience? Unless you think that suffering is good for the soul. In which case my soul must be in _very_ healthy condition.

"You don't have to do it this year. You are pregnant. That is excuse enough."

"True. And you _don't_ have to put out decorations out there. Really, I can live very well without colored lights in our yard."

"They will think we are weird if we don't. It is called tradition."

"Well, neither of us was raised here. We can be excused from knowing the tradition."

"And we don't have to give a party. We can go to the one that Barnabas gives. And it is logical that he does. He has that big house, with plenty of room for guests. If any of his guests gets too drunk to drive, they can stay there until the morning. Of course, we have to contribute to the pot luck. It is much safer than letting him cook. His coffee is bad enough, thank you."

"Well, you are not making that special punch of yours."

Frank made a face. "It is good punch. But yes, we better stick to non alcoholic drinks. For the baby's sake... I could bring _baba ganouj_..."

"What is that?"

"Eggplant mashed with tahini."

What is tahini?"

"Crushed sesame seeds."

"Which the store does not carry, here."

"So I will do it with peanut butter. Close enough."

"Why not bring a chocolate roll instead? Everybody loves chocolate."

* * *

Angelique checked the list of things she needed to do.

Megan was going to leave Collinsport for parts unknown. It was bound to happen, sooner or later. The presence of Richard Zimmerman had moved the timetable earlier, that was all.

The question was whether they would kill Zimmerman before they left.

Megan was reluctant to do so, as that might bring in Julia's enmity. And if Julia went after her, Barnabas would help Julia...

Megan did not want to face Barnabas. She was willing to let the Mossad have him. There was little that Barnabas could give away, now that Verhoff and the children were relocating. And his value as an agent was doubtful...

Angelique did not want Richard to die. She sensed that he was telling the truth about breaking free of the Mossad,

And she did not want to risk Julia's and Barnabas' enmity, either. She could claim she knew nothing of what Megan planned, but they would not believe her.

On the other hand, she could try to track Richard's handler. And if Richard told the truth, she could find that there was no handler there..

Now, how could she find that?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Why are so sure that Nunez is hopeless?' Barnabas asked Richard.

"It is not that. It is just that I wonder why you spend so much time and energy on a lousy fascist."

"He deserves a second chance."

"I just can't figure you out. I just can't. Anyone else would have give up and moved on. You keep at it as if... as if your own redemption depended on it."

"Well, in a sense it does. I got a second chance that I did not deserve... I was at the bottom. I did horrible things that should not be forgiven. And yet I was."

"You do not know what horrible things he did. And do not build up yourself as this epitome of evil. What you were was just panicking and making wrong decisions. You called it losing your humanity, didn't you? Well, you were just plain losing it... You remind me so much of poor Cosmo... And how I set him up... Mr. Collins, I want you to understand. I like you. I enjoy your company. But I could set you up as I set up poor Cosmo. and not bat an eyelid about it... No, just like Cosmo, you don't understand what ruthless means. "

"I have done ruthless things."

"Sporadically, and under stress.. But the kind of thing I did on a routine basis, I do not think you'd have the stomach for it. That's why you do not realize that what Nunez did is at a different level of evil than you ever could hope to achieve.. Maybe that's the best redemption that he can have."

Richard's eyes were lost in the distance, as he recalled Cosmo. "He had survived there, feeding on those villages around him. He had enough cunning not to kill. His victims were sick for a few days, but they recovered. It was not worse than a bad case of the flu. He was a nuisance, but a nuisance that they could live with. Specially considering other, more irritating nuisances in their lives. If he had not gone for theatricality, he might even have gone under the radar, as I imagine a lot of vampires have. I know how it is done. Take just enough, and make them forget. The only tracks you leave is someone who feels like he is catching a bad cold, is a bit fuzzy on his memories of the past night, and has some mosquito bites on some part of his body... taking it from he wrist is safer in that respect. People are always getting cut or injured in their hands during their tasks, so nothing is there to draw attention... And that's why people came to the conclusion nowadays that vampires do not exist. No bloodless corpses thrown around to announce that _there is a killer loose_. Nothing like in the movies, where they present the hapless doing of some dumb loser that gets killed by the end of the movie, for being too dumb to live."

"But you killed. You are a professional killer."

"And that's why. I know that the problem is not the killing, but the getting away with it. You need to prepare, you need to find the right place and time, you need to erase traces of your presence, and you need to get out of town fast, before the witnesses come forward with your description. Then you move to a new identity. The guys in those movies, kill, and kill again, and then sit down and watch the police or the hero of the movie track them down, feeling superior and laughing at what they call their stupidity... Of course, they get killed... Someday I would like to write to Hollywood to complain how they depict us as a bunch of losers."

Barnabas laughed at the idea.

"But poor Cosmo. He had to transform me. I did beg him for it... I realized what I could do, even if Cosmo didn't. I promised him to be his friend for all eternity... Poor Cosmo. I fed back to him his fantasies about what he was. And when he transformed me, I went into a killing rampage. It was Nazis and German soldiers. I did announce my presence with a lot of corpses. In the same villages where Cosmo fed... leaving too many of the same clues that Cosmo left..."

Richard sighed. He had done many, many things that he was ashamed of. But this first one haunted him.

"Of course they had to hunt the killer down. And when the Germans knew of the presence of a vampire, they hunted for it. They found Cosmo. And I had managed to get away by then. I was the killer, not Cosmo... I tried to tell myself that I did not know what would happen, and that I had warned him... but the truth is that I set him up in cold blood... Auschwitz had taught me too well about brutality and ruthlessness. Poor Cosmo. And when I see you making the same mistakes about good an evil than he did, I shudder., and fear for you.."

Barnabas did not have an answer. Richard's words had offered him a glimpse of a cold, ruthless world. He recalled Parallel Time... He had been told there that he was not paranoid enough nor ruthless enough to survive. He recalled Roxanne, and he finally realized her generosity when she had sent him back to his own reality...

"I do not know if I would have survived in your world. But if I did, I would have ended up like you."

"Yes, Mr. Collins. You would not have survived as the sweet, idealistic, impractical man that you are. You would be a killer. One who would not become theatrical to work himself into a killing mood, but a coldly calculating one for whom a death means less than nothing. Well, I chose this life, and now that I choose to step away from it, I wonder if I got enough in me to make a new life that does not involve killing and manipulating."

"You can."

"I wonder... Just because you can get the man out of the Kidon, does not mean that you can get the Kidon out of the man."

* * *

"Julia, why are you so stubborn?" Buffy asked during a breathing spell in their routines..

"I don't like the way the instructor treats us. Like we are in kindergarten. We are adults. I am the director of my own clinic. Just because I am pregnant dose not make me into a five year old. I don't need to have my nose wiped and my mittens pinned to my coat so I don't lose them."

"Julia, you exaggerate."

"I do not. Tell me the truth, Buffy, do you enjoy being talked to the way we are?"

"No. I don't. But I need this class. It is good for me and the baby."

"Yes, that is true," Julia acknowledged "I need this class, too. More than you do. But still I can't stand being talked to in that tone by someone who's got a B.A. at best."

Buffy laughed.

"All right, laugh." Julia said with wounded vanity. "Call me a snob. Maybe I should not put so much value on a degree. But I went to college all those years. I studied. I did research. I earned a reputation. So I got pride. I got a right to it. Why do I have to put up with baby talk?"

"I don't think that it is personal. You are not being singled out."

"I am aware of it. That's just the training these instructors get, I am afraid. They are the best that we can hope for in the boondocks, anyway."

* * *

"Zoya, come back. I need you."

Zoya felt the call. Hallie needed her again. And she felt pulled to go to her... She had to do her bidding.

But she would not. She could resist, here, in the protection of her family, and Petofi's hand.

But not forever. Hallie would prevail at the end. and her wrath would be terrible. She probably suspected her of rebellion. She might decide to get rid of the problem she represented by offering her as a sacrifice.

She had to fight Hallie. She would have no chance otherwise. Going to her might mean going to her death. But how could she fight Hallie and hope to win?

She needed the hand, all to herself. She needed the full power of it...

She had to steal it. Or rather Adam was going to steal it for her, and disappear with it, so that the family would blame him, not her.

It was a gamble, a dangerous gamble. But Hallie had given her not choice. She remembered Magda Rakosi, and her fate, having to watch those she loved die, knowing that she had caused their deaths. To live on, bitterly regretting her deeds...

Would that be her fate too?: Or worse?

Whatever it was, she had to chance it.

* * *

"You know where to go?" Jake asked Violet.

Violet nodded. She recited the plan, as she and Jake had worked it out.

"There will be this party at the Old House to celebrate Tammy's engagement. Iris will be at that party. You can hide in the Old House. There are plenty of rooms, many of which are never used. And they will not think of looking for you there. They will look around Iris's place or Delia's, but they will think that you are too afraid of Barnabas to come close to the Old House."

"Yes. I always acted scared around him. I still do. They do remember it."

"I got a wig and makeup, so that no one will recognize you at the bus station. Also a dress and a coat so that you are not running round in a hospital gown. And food to last you for several days. You can buy more from the machines at he bus station."

"What about a gun?"

"I couldn't get one." he grimaced. "They are not that easy to get with no questions asked. But I got a knife And money. And a cross, if Barnabas tries to interfere."

She took them.

"Now hit me on the head. Make it good."

She did so.

* * *

It would be a nice party, Vicky thought. Not only Christmas, but a celebrating of the impending wedding of Tammy and Joe.

Vicky felt a tinge of jealousy because her own wedding to Phillip had not called such notice.

Not that she had wanted it. There were other things that she thought more important then.

And then, Tammy was Barnabas direct descendant. He saw her as a daughter, or the closest thing to one..

No, it was not about the party. It was that she would attend without Phillip. She still did not know what had happened to him. She had come to accept that he was dead... He had either killed himself, or faked his own death s that she could get the insurance money. Which she did not get, as the insurance company had wiggled out of it...

At least she had Phillip Jr. with her. And she had a new career, as an adult instructor. She did not have many students yet, but they kept coming, and she could see the moment when she could expand her courses, and maybe hire a assistant to teach other classes...

And that was far more valuable than any party.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I feel giddy" Barnabas confessed to George.

"As you should. After all, it is not every day that you great great great great granddaughter gets married."

"Yes. Even that makes her a distant relation, still... Still I like to pretend she's my daughter."

George nodded.

"I still don't know how to handle it. It is not easy yet for me to establish a relationship. I think that she is friendly towards me, and can feel warmly, but she does not think of me as family..."

"Well, Maybe you ask too much of her."

"Yes. I should not complain. After all, I do have a son. And so do you."

"But still Tammy got under your skin."

"I guess that I still have guilt feelings about her... You know, I did get rid of a lot of them. But these still remain. And I probably will carry them for a while... Same as the rest of the country, working out what proper race relations should be. " he sighed. "the difference is that most people can say that they had noting to do with slavery themselves. I can't. That is something that does not leave me."

* * *

Violet was surprised to find out how easy it was to get to Collinsport. Jake had told he so, but she had not believed it.

She saw the way to her sister's house. She wanted to go there, but remembered Jake's warning. That would be the first place they would look for her. If they had discovered her missing, then they might be in wait for her already.

No, it was better to do as Jake and her had planned it. Go to the Old House, and hole up in there. She had enough food with her for at least two weeks, and she could raid the pantry at the Old House, during the daytime, when Urien was away and Barnabas was sleeping...

She just had to wait.

* * *

Megan's smile could not be more cordial. It was almost fawning as she greeted Richard.

Well, it was to be expected, given Richard's history. She only had to play as being awed by him.

"I heard so much about you." she told him.

"I heard about you too." he answered smiling.

And how much of it had he passed to his handler?

"I hope that what you heard of me is good."

"That if anyone can help me, you can."

"Yes. I got a reputation for that. Getting people out of trouble. But you are not in trouble now, are you?"

"Barnabas told me that you introduced him to Doctor Verhoff, and the children."

Yes. Good thing that Verhoff and the children had relocated already. "And that interests you? "

"Not him, specifically. I don't think that I am the type of patient Verhoff takes on. But he might know somebody who might talk to me, get me accepted.."

"Accepted? By whom?"

Maybe she should just kill him now, and damn the consequences. He was determined to find as many vampires as he could, to deliver them into slavery. It was because of this that she had Roxanne executed. She would execute Richard too.

Except that they needed to find the handler.

"Other vampires. You may not believe it, but until I moved to Collinsport I never met anyone else. Apart from Cosmo, who... transformed me, I never met anyone who shared my condition."

"No one?"

"I did not look for them, precisely. I never thought of them as 'my people.' My people were the Jews.. And it stayed that way for a long time.

Was it true? Well, it could be checked, by finding out where he had operated, and asking the locals for information on him.. Had he never ran across the local vampires in his missions? Did he ever look for them? How much damage had he done already? How bit a file on vampires did Mossad have? How many had been forcibly recruited already?

She did not _want_ ever to become a Mossad slave, any more than Verhoff or any of the others

"But now that is changed..."

"I find that I have less in common with the people I work with... They get old and I do not. And they are replaced by young people who do not understand what I talk about. For them it is history. For me,... for me it is something that defines me..."

"So..."

"So I finally decided to take a good look at who I was and what I was doing I recalled the original idealism that was the founding of Israel. It is not there. Israel has become a country, like another country. And its people, are not my people, not in the sense they were in 1948. I have been a Jew, and a Holocaust survivor this long, and for a while it was enough. But I got to think that I am going to live a long time. And that I need to meet people who know and understand what I am."

"You decided it was time to learn how to be a vampire?"

"Yes. It is not a question of learning how to feed, and how to blend in... I need to look on someone and say "Yes, this is my people. I belong with them."

"There is a problem, though., which may keep you from being accepted."

'What is it?"

'You worked for the Mossad, didn't you?"

'Yes."

"We are wary of those who work for spy agencies of any country, no matter what the motivation."

"Why are you ?"

"Because we are afraid of being forced to work for them too."

"I see... You know, I do not think that Mossad knew what I was."

Megan managed not to laugh. Ridiculous! Of course, Mossad knew. Was Richard taking her for a fool?

Still, there was something about he way he spoke. Call it a feeling, an intuition, but somehow she felt as if he was telling the truth... at least what he knew of it.

...Maybe he really had not sought out other vampires. Maybe they had avoided him, maybe he had not shown any desire to contact them. And maybe Mossad had given up on him delivering any more vampires to them, and just kept him as the highly efficient killer than he was.

But Mossad knew what Richard was, and maybe it was using him, unwittingly, to flush out others...

* * *

'You think it would be wise if I did not go to the party?" Iris asked George.

"I would not say that."

"You think that it is safe?"

"No. I am going to ask you to be bait. We do not know where she is or where she may be going. We looked around Delia's house, but she's not there. She may be hidden in one of the summer cottages. They do not have any heating, but she could bundle up in there. We try to find any smoke coming out of any chimneys there,.. The point is that it may take us a while to find her. On the other hand we know that she is coming after you. We will keep you and Peter under guard, but I think we may have better luck if you lure her to come after you."

Iris sighed. :"I guess I do have to be bait. I do not like it, but this waiting is getting on my nerves."

* * *

Coming to Collinsport had been a shock to Richard, thought he managed to hide it. Julia had changed. He should have expected it, but it still shocked him. She was not anymore that little girl who clung to him, seeking reassurance in a frightening world. not the young woman who pored into books, seeing the pride in his eyes with her achievements, nor the budding scientists who confessed to him that she was trying to find a cure for his condition... Now she was married, about to become a mother, and she did not look at him anymore with starry eyed wonder.

Time passed for her too. And he risked being left behind.

It had been a shock to find out about Barnabas. And Megan, and the others... He had thought at one time to look for more people sharing his condition, but he had been unable to... And then, what would they have to talk about? His experiences were not like his... And they would remind him too much of Cosmo...

And yet... it was as if he was being given a chance, as if he could finally close one painful chapter of his life, and begin another...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Megan stared at the little girl, startled by her appearance.

"You have grown." she said, It should not have been possible, but here it was, Veronica, looking like a ten year old, instead of six.

"Yes. It is a new treatment. Which has nothing to do with the assignment."

Verhoff grunted in the background.. He did not look happy. Megan could guess why. If Veronica had gained four years, Cecily could too. And for Cecily it meant a body past puberty, a whole new world opening for her. And leaving Verhoff and his tastes behind...

There was a potential problem with Verhoff, when all his bed partners could acquire adult bodies. How would he satisfy his tastes then?

Well, that was a problem for later on...

"Well, the assignment as I understand is to flush out the handler. We may feed false information to Richard. I am well positioned for it. Give him a false name and address, and wait until someone turns up."

"I want an example made of Richard Zimmerman. I want him executed." Verhoff said.

"It is too early for that. We can get information out of him."

Cecily nodded.

"We are aware of the emotional ties between him and Dr. Julia Hoffman" Veronica said. "And how she might retaliate against you."

"We cannot execute him without a trial" Cecily said. "he has the right to be heard."

"There is an automatic death sentence for what he is doing. We do not need to go through the trouble of trying him."

"The way Megan told us, he might be sincere about wanting to leave the Mossad and start a new life. And there is this claim that he never met another vampire in all those years in the Mossad.. It deserves investigation." Cecily could not forget that Julia Hoffman had given her the chance to get an adult body, and wanted to repay that debt. But she knew how difficult it was. Others had been summarily executed for less than what Richard was now doing... if he was indeed doing it.

Verhoff gave her a withering look, but she did not flinch.

"We do not need to go to all this trouble for an avowed member of a spy agency. The standard procedure is to execute them as soon as they are discovered. The freedom of all depends on it. Do I need to quote the law for it?"

"We have made exceptions before."

"Those we knew were under duress and wanting to escape, and proved it by their willingness to run risks for us. There is nothing to show that Zimmerman is one of those."

"I think that his statements deserve examination." Megan said. "If the Mossad has been employing a vampire all these years, we should want to know more about them. Richard can give us that information."

"I can interrogate him." Veronica said.

Megan knew what 'interrogation' meant. Veronica had a lot of anger due to her inability to grow out of her childish body. That anger found expression in sanctioned ways within the community... and interrogations...

"He probably has a lot of different stories to feed you. No, he will not refuse to talk. He just will tell you one false story after another, and have you on wild goose chases, which may also be traps. Like going to a pre-determined spot, looking for a certain contact. That's a good way to let his handler know that he's been captured and is being interrogated...No, Veronica, your way is too risky."

"But we want the information, still."

"I may have better luck with that. I know how to put them at ease. When their guard is a bit down, they let out bits and pieces that we can put together."

"It is enough! I may the decisions here!" Verhoff shouted. "And my decision is that he dies!"

"Not without a trial." Cecily said. "In that I will not budge."

There was an undercurrent between those two, Megan realized. Their fight had nothing to do with Richard Zimmerman. It was because of Veronica's growth spurt and how it changed the balance of power between Verhoff and the children...

And she could do nothing about it...

* * *

"How many cards have I written already?' Louella said. "I wish we did not know so many people. I am getting cramps from ring to them. And when I think of how much I spent on gifts... Even if they are cheap ones, still, they do add up... I am sure glad that Christmas comes once a year."

"I know, I know..." Willie said while bouncing Pearl up and down.

"And Tammy's getting married now. Why can't they wait a bit more and give us a breather? It is not as if she was pregnant nor anything."

"Probably it was Barnabas' idea."

"Barnabas has no sense in his stupid head."

"Agreed. But we love him, anyway."

* * *

Carolyn opened the liquor cabinet.

She knew that she should not, but come the holidays, she felt more and more her isolation.

"You should not," Roger remonstrated her.

"I know, Uncle, I know."

"Then don't"

"What are we going to do for Christmas? I got tired of being lonely. I got tired of inviting people who come to pay homage to their employer... I just want friends..."

"We have friends..."

"Uncle, we do not. "

"I know that you want Adam back."

"Not just Adam. I would like to have Vicky. I would like to have David. I would like to have Quentin. I would like to have Barnabas. I want to be surrounded by people who love me, who like me."

"It cannot be done..."

"Don't you wish to have David, Uncle? Don't you wish to have Vicky? She is your daughter after all."

"She is not legitimate."

"David was and you neglected him shamefully. I know, because you thought that he was Burke's son... Or was that the excuse you gave to wash your hands off him?"

"Carolyn, I know that I made many mistakes..."

"More than mistakes. Manslaughter. You did run down a man and killed him so that you could frame Devlin and send him to prison."

"It was an accident."

"A very convenient accident. Like Burke's plane blowing up."

"Barnabas probably did."

"Barnabas was scared of modern technology. He would not come close to a plane nor anything that smacked of technology. But you... you did not want Burke around. He was going to marry Vicky and move to Seaview. He would be your neighbor. _that_ you could not tolerate."

"Carolyn... Carolyn... Carolyn... it is not true. I had nothing to do with that... It was bad luck,"

"You make your own luck, Uncle."

"No, I don't. Nothing came the way I hoped. I just think I did... "

"Yeah... Same with me. I too made my own luck. I _really_ did, didn't I? With a husband who is no husband, a child who is no child of mine, a pretend family... Pretend friends... and ending up locked up in this house, just like mother..."

"You are not locked up. You can leave."

'You are right! We can leave. We are going to Boston, and celebrate Christmas there. We are going to have fun. And we are going to meet people. We are going to make friends out there. "

"You want?"

"Yes. Start packing, Uncle, and start packing for Edmund. Going to Boston is a lot better than staying here feeling sorry for ourselves."

* * *

Jake rubbed his wrists. Where had the bitch learned to tie such tight knots? His wrists had been rubbed raw when she had tied him up.

Sure, he had asked her to knock him out and tie him up so that he would not be blamed for her escape. But the way she had trussed him up... It had been hours before he could get somebody's attention so that they could free him.

He should have remember how she had come to be locked up. She and Delia had had plenty of time to practice knots...

Yes, those hours that he had spent tied up in the closet meant that she had a good start. She probably had made it to Collinsport, and, just as they had planned, she was holed up at the Old House. Waiting for the big party to celebrate Tammy's engagement..


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Do I disappoint you?" Richard asked Barnabas, point blank.

"No, you don't" Barnabas lied.

"I do. And I disappointed Julia. Do not apologize. You believed what she told you, and she saw me through the rose colored glasses of her memory. And you were in awe of me. Somehow people expect Holocaust survivors to be kind of superhuman, to have some sort of answer to the problems of human existence. How they get those ideas I do not know. Maybe the enormity of what was done to us short-circuits their brain. I guess that at bottom they are glad that it wasn't them, and they feel guilty about such thoughts."

Barnabas did not answer, Richard had hit the nail on the head and he felt ashamed because of it.

"I guess that's why the Woodman never wondered about my cold hands nor any other of my... peculiarities. I think that I could have stood in front of a mirror and he would have felt ashamed to notice anything odd. Even after he found out about you, I don't think that he connected it in any way with me, thought it would explain why Julia chose to protect you... He would not have dared to think about me and you in the same sentence."

"Why do you call him the Woodman?"

"Why not? I liked him. Of course, I never got that close with him. He did not make me fall in love with him and then left me with George Brant to have and to hold. He was somebody I had to warn not to lead Julia on... In any case, I wonder how much that episode colors your thinking about Nunez,, why you are so determined that he should have a second chance."

Barnabas sighed. Back to Nunez again.

"I do want Nunez to get up from that bed."

"Why? To prove to yourself that you had been right in the first place? At some point you have to stop being stubborn and accept things as they are."

"Why are you so sure that Nunez is hopeless?"

"Why are you so unwilling to give up on him? Some things are just impossible. I have run into too many of those. You have to learn to recognize it."

"But I know, I just know that he may yet respond."

Richard shook his head. "Even if it was possible, he's not worth it."

"Who was it that said that if charity was deserved, it would not be charity buy justice? He does not deserve it, any more that I deserved it...'

"Very noble. "Richard shrugged "But the fact remains that you cannot save everybody. You can save only so many. And you need to choose. It is ugly, but you cannot refuse to choose. And Nunez is a bad choice."

"I can see how that can happen in war, but not here."

"Resources are not infinite. There are just so many beds in the clinic, just so much staff. Any bed that Nunez takes is a bed denied to another patient. If I was not afraid of what it would do to Julia, I would remove the problem.."

"I have to. I made myself responsible for Nunez."

"And you have this romantic notion of Nunez acknowledging the errors of his ways, thanking you for showing him the light, and going on to a whole different life. Devoting himself to leper colonies or some such. And then everything would be all right. All wounds healed, all wrongs redeemed, is that it?"

"Is that so wrong?" Barnabas asked, plaintively.

"No, it isn't wrong. Only it can never happen. Nunez is not going to turn over a new leaf."

"I did it, didn't I? Do you know the things I did myself?'

Richard shook his head. "You are such a romantic. I was one once, you know."

"I am not ready to give up yet."

Richard forbore to say that Barnabas had already given up when he had taken Comet to meet Munsungan. He had sensed he was getting nowhere and calling on the old shaman was a last ditch attempt. It had not worked out, because Nunez did not have the inner resources to pull himself together again.

Eventually Barnabas would have to acknowledge reality.

* * *

"So Zimmerman is going to get a trial" Verhoff sneered. "As if that will help. He will be executed, anyway."

"He still will have the chance to be heard." Cecily said calmly.

Verhoff. looked at her, trying to intimidate her with an angry look. She stood there not showing any response.

"Are you really going to submit yourself to this... experiment?" he asked.

"Yes. I am."

"But I like you the way you are."

"Yes. And you like me being at your beck and call. The dutiful Viennese daughter. Your version of Anna Freud. Well, I am tired of it. I am tired of doing all the ugly scut work that you are too dignified to handle... You always keep yourself impeccable, untouched by all. After all, your role is to have all the answers, high on the mountaintop. While mine is to handle all the unpleasant details. I have to handle intruders, I have to get the cats and dogs for the children, then get rid of the bodies. I have to lure pimps to become caretakers. I have to dispose of the children that are too young to be helped..." she shivered remembering the last one... Even the sex counseling... You never do any of that... "I have to do it. Well, I had it. I am going to strike out on my own. And there will be others like me. The children are going to grow up and have some of the life that was denied to them. And you will have to learn to live with it."

"You do not know what you risk."

"I know what _you_ risk if we can strike out on our own. Better prepare yourself for the changes, for they are coming."

Damn Julia Hoffman. He could recognize her hand in this. She had once aged Barnabas. She never mentioned it to him, but he had found out. And she probably had passed on the notes to the children, who used them.

He would make her pay.

He would make sure that Richard Zimmerman, whom she loved so much, was properly executed.

* * *

Violet moved silently about the place. No one here, as it was daytime and Urien had gone to town. She could explore at her heart's content.

The Old House was full of surprises. So many rooms, so much stuff all over...

She had never been inside. Much too afraid of the one who lived in it... And she had shown her fear often enough. No one would think of looking for her here.

Her hand played with the knife that Jake had given her. She was not afraid now. _He_ would not know that she was there. This place had the scent of too many others to betray her presence to him.

And what did not know could hurt you, she thought. Or at least could hurt your daughter..

Why would _He_ call Tammy his daughter? Jake had tried to explain it to her, but it was no use. Well,, if _He_ chose to claim that nigger girl as his daughter, that was his business.

He was asleep now. Maybe she could go and take a look at him now... Maybe hurt him a bit with her knife..

Her eyes fell on a beautiful white dress. Old fashioned, of course. Actually, an antique. Yellowed, frayed at the edges.

But still beautiful...

She wondered how it would look on her.

She had heard about this dress, about the legend of Josette du Pres... Josette Collins...

She could wear it, as she stabbed Tammy, and the dress was spattered with her blood.

* * *

Patterson looked more sobered up. There were some dead geese by his side. So he had gone hunting, after all...

"You want a drink?" he asked George. He sounded pleasant enough., none of the insolence that had been present at first.

"No, thanks. I am still on duty.

"And I am off, now. Which allows me to drink as much as I wish. I am making up now for all the drinks I had to turn down. But I did a lot more exercise those days. And none of the shuffleboard that they try to press-gang you into in Florida. I am sorry, I can't help sounding bitter when I am around you.

Was Patterson apologizing? What was his game?

He better play along...

"I can understand your feelings. This was your town, your life. And it was taken away like that. When I was a child I wanted to grow up to be like you."

Patterson nodded. "And now you got it."

"I try to do a good job."

"I heard about it. Like the time you caught the drug smugglers."

"Yes." George grinned. "I got to be kind of a celebrity, thanks to it."

"And you kept the FBI from hogging all the glory. I wonder how you did it."

"Just luck. Their man got sick, so I had to run point in it."

"How did he get sick?"

"Some virus or other. He pushed himself, instead of having a proper rest, and his body went on strike for better working conditions."

What was Patterson's game:? He had not suddenly had a changer of heart. So why was he making nice?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was party time at the Old House again, and the guests were having a good time. Except for Megan who knew what was to happen, and was not happy about it... But it had to be done.

She probably would have to leave Collinsport once it was done. Assume a new identity someplace else... She knew that it would have to happen, only not so soon.

But at least she did not leave an unfinished business behind, as he had the last time. She had finally brought the Collins family to heel. David was out, making a new life for himself, Carolyn was seeing that control as lady of the manor and ruler of the town was no substitute for a healthy social life. Edmund was going to public school and learning proper values. And Roger... Roger did not matter. Neither did Quentin or Barnabas...

She had laid the ghost of Jamison Collins to rest. The harm done to her family was over, The rest was up to the villagers, and she trusted them.

Now she had to carry this out, following the plan they agreed on.

* * *

Richard brought some punch to Julia. "You feel all right?" he asked.

"Yes. I am all right. I am pregnant, not crippled."

"I know. But I still have trouble adjusting to it. I still see you as little Jewel."

"Not so little. I was in college when you left me."

Richard nodded. "Are you still mad at me for leaving you as I did?"

"No. Not anymore. Well, maybe a little bit."

Megan saw them and her heart contracted. With luck Julia would never know the whole story. Richard would just disappear as mysteriously as he had the first time...

But what if Julia found out?"

Urien walked around as if in a cloud. Barnabas wondered if his love life had improved. He hoped so.

Tammy was animated. Maybe a bit too animated. Though she was certain of her love for Joe, still the words of Jake carried a sting. Her relatives mulled about, wondering about his weirdo character who did not have modern conveniences in his home, and why would he want to throw a party in those conditions. If that's what white folks were like... They looked at Joe with critical eyes. Was Tammy doing the right thing? Yes, she had explained it to them, that they had been thrown into situations in which their life depended on the other, and the bond that such situations created was the strongest ever. But still, why couldn't she had found a nice black man to marry?

Frances, Alma and her husband, Willie, Louella, Vicky... They kept nibbling at the food, talking with each other and laughing, maybe too shrilly, thanks to the booze. Buffy and Julia abstained from drinking it but not from eating and laughing.

"How come there is no Christmas tree?" Frank asked Barnabas.

"Would you have accepted a plastic one?"

"No. They don't feel right."

"I feel the same way. But it is a shame to kill a tree for a night's entertainment. And anyway, dressing up a tree is a Druidic ritual that has nothing to do with Christmas. It was carried over because it looks pretty and can be good family fun. But I don't have children that would enjoy it. I have cats who would try to eat the needles and end up poisoned."

"Where are the cats now?"

"Hiding. Too many strange people, too noisy. Tomorrow they will be back to normal, hogging the best cushions."

"That's what cats do."

Joe decided that he had had too much to drink. And this place was downright primitive when it came to bathrooms. He tried to remember what you did when you needed one... In the worst case, he'd go outside and use the bushes..

He went to the back, into the less used rooms, which were kept dark. The moon shone thought the window letting him see the accumulated furniture with no place to go... Barnabas was moving furniture around again... Well, he had to keep himself amused during the long hours of the night...

Something moved around.

He froze. It looked like a woman in a long white dress.

Like Angelique when she was a vampire and she had attacked him... When she had driven her mad...

He stared, frozen. Was it a woman there? Or a trick of the moonlight?.. he could hear Angelique back at the party...

Violet held her breath, the knife ready. If Joe Haskell moved any closer, she'd stab. She had promised Jake she'd do it.

But he had to get closer to her. And he seemed frozen on the spot, watching ahead, where she was.

She had to wait. If she attacked now, he'd see her coming, and he'd run and scream, and then they would find her, and she'd never get to kill Iris...

If only she had a gun... Then she could get all three at once. And save one bullet for Julia Hoffman.. And for Sheriff Brant...

But she did not have a gun, only a knife.

Joe staggered out of the corridor, unwilling to cross the darkened room where she was.

* * *

"I would like to discuss something with you. "Megan told Richard."

"What is it about?" Richard was mildly interested. Not that he did not find Megan attractive, but he had other concerns, having to do with Julia.

"I think that you want to regularize your situation. Get a proper paper trail. Those papers you got from the Mossad will not last forever, and they can use them to track them down. I can offer you a whole new identity."

That he was interested with. "That sounds very promising."

"We need a quiet place to talk." Megan looked around. "I know of a room where we won't be disturbed."

* * *

Violet saw them. There were children there, sitting in this back room, silently, in the dark.

And one of the had a gun.

She stared at the gun. She wanted it. With it she could get her revenge.

What were children doing with a gun? And what were they doing here at all? Why did nobody know that they were there? What did Barnabas want with them?

The questions came, but she dismissed them. They had a gun, she wanted that gun. That was enough. She would go and get it. A child could not stop her.

They might cry out.

Let them. That would make them come here, all of them, and when they came in, she would shoot as they came in...

And Barnabas would be the one to have to explain what were those children doing...

She lunged from her hiding place and grabbed the gun.

The boy pulled back at the gun, with more strength that might be possible. His eyes met Violet's. Calm, cold eyes.

She pulled at the gun again, while the boy hissed at her. She dared at him to be stronger than she was.

That lasted a few second. The other children surrounded her and seized her. She felt their little hands stifling her mouth, and her littlie teeth cutting into her.

When they released her, she felt unable to move or talk.

"Who is she?" One of the boys asked.

"One of the guests, I imagine."

"No, look at how she's dressed. This is no costume party."

"Well, in any case, we can't let her get back to them. Put her behind the draperies. She will stay there until it is over. No one will notice her there.

A little girl took her by the hand and led her. Violet felt unable to do anything except obey.

"She's not harmed." the little girl said "Which is good. We promised this would be done with the minimum of fuss."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Violet stood immobile behind the draperies. No one had bound her, there was no need to She watched them and tried to understand what was going on. She realized what the children were. And she knew from what they said that they were laying a trap for someone. And maybe, when they sprung it, she might yet be able to get Iris.

She felt the paralysis slowly ease off. She was not frozen into position. She was only incapable of willing herself to move. But perhaps she could will herself if she strained at it.

When she saw Iris, she might will herself to act. Fast...

From where she was she could see Joe Haskell. He looked at the empty room with a quizzical expression. It was as if he was not sure of what he had seen, and whether he should investigate it... He had looked afraid then, as if she reminded him of someone she did not like to see.

She could not shout. But she could whisper. And a whisper did carry... and if she blew the curtains, ever so slightly, it would unnerve him. Maybe make him come to her..

"Joe Haskell" she whispered. "Joe Haskell."

Joe did not seem to react. Maybe he had not heard her. No matter. She would continue, and it would register. And then he would come to investigate, and then she would strike.

Stab in the throat so that he could not scream. Drop him behind the curtain, and start looking for Tammy and Iris.

The children had not taken her knife away. She had tucked it into her garter when she had gone for the gun, and they had not searched her. They figured out that immobilizing her was enough. They did not understand hatred...

Joe wondered. Had he really heard anything? It seemed as it to come from that empty room, where the curtains billowed by a small breeze.

But the windows were closed... where did the breeze come from?

Probably a crack in the walls that had not been patched... It was probably not the only one is this wreck of a house...

'Joe Haskell." he heard again. "I am waiting for you."

He shrugged. He should not drink so much. What was in the punch anyway? Was it like Long Island tea, that had everything but tea in it? He should have stuck to the other punch, the non-alcoholic one, provided for the two pregnant ladies and those who worried about driving back...

"Joe Haskell." the whisper continued "come to me."

"What is this?" Patterson asked looking at the punch.

"A lot of fruit juices" Derek explained. "Club soda, Artichoke juice for bitterness and Tabasco sauce for bite."

"Artichoke and Tabasco? I suspected that Collinsport was crazy when I left, and this confirms it. It seems that I got out of town at the right time."

"We miss you." Barnabas said. He was not sure how to deal with Patterson. He could not forget George's accusations... But it made sense to invite him and observe him, and get whatever information out of him that they could.

"I imagine you do. And you know what's real crazy? I miss you too, the whole crazy bunch of you. Not that I am not glad that it was Davenport and not me who got it. Who was it? Jeb Hawkes? After all, he was the one who killed Paul Stoddard, as I heard."

"Yes, it was Jeb Hawkes."

"And he married Carolyn Stoddard. It figures. The whole family is crazy. I heard that Liz Stoddard had married again. Did she try to kill her second husband too?"

"No, she did not." Barnabas said stiffly.

Patterson's saw Barnabas' reaction and did not insist. "I am sorry, but it was quite a story. We talked about it for weeks, that is when not worrying about Maggie Evans and the rest. And you have to agree that the whole family is peculiar."

"Including myself?"

"Well, yes."

Barnabas nodded. That reference to Maggie... Was Patterson on a fishing expedition, seeing what it could get him? Well, he had the way to stop those musings."

'You know, Maggie Evans is now in congress. She is a U.S. Representative for Maine."

"You mean that she's that Margaret Evans?"

"Yes And she does not want anyone remembering that story. Nothing that would uncover the fact that she was once in a mental health institution. I know that she managed to remove all evidence from Wyncliffe of her having been admitted. I do not know what unsavory steps she may take if anyone started talking about it, but I am afraid that she might be quite ruthless about it."

There. Warn Patterson about Maggie's wrath. Maybe that would stop him. And maybe not, and then Sabrina would solve the problem for them.

* * *

"Joe Haskell, come to me." Violet repeated. "You have to come to me. And bring Tammy with you. And Iris. You have to. You know who I am and that I am to be obeyed..."

Joe shook his head. He kept hearing his name being spoken and he could find no one speaking it. Was he drunk, then? He had not taken that much...

Violet ground her teeth. It was taking forever to lure Joe there.

And then, Joe did not matter that much. It was Iris who she wanted. And Iris could not be made to come just by whispering her name.

Or could it?

"Iris... Iris White." she kept the voice barely above a whisper, trusting that the words would get there. "your time has come. The blood, the blood. You will bleed tonight, Iris White, and it won't be Barnabas Collins this time."

"Do you hear anything?" Iris asked Barnabas.

"Like what?"

"It was like someone talking to me."

"Funny." Barnabas said. "I almost hear something myself."

"Maybe we disturbed some spirit tonight."

Barnabas frowned.

"You will bleed at the point of my knife."

Iris felt a shiver go down her spine. Death, blood... bloody death. She looked at Barnabas again and involuntarily touched her neck.

"It is scary." Barnabas admitted. "We've dealt with vengeful spirits before and I know how dangerous they can be. But who could it be? Who can we disturb by having this party? Josette used to haunt here, but she was never a threatening spirit, more like a guardian angel. And Sarah... she never threatened anyone...

"Maybe because Tammy is black. Some of your more prejudiced ancestors might resent a party in her honor."

"Whatever it is, it deserves investigating. I might have to call an exorcist, but maybe I can talk sense to him. Or her."

* * *

Richard gave in to Megan's urgings. Yes, it was a nice party, and he was having fun. But if she could help him with his new life, he should not pass up the opportunity.

He followed her into the back room.

No sooner had he walked inside that small childish arms tightened around his neck, arms, and ankles.

Just as Joe Haskell, curious enough about the whispers, finally entered the room. He walked in just as the children were tightening a gag around Richard's mouth.

"Hey! What is this! Stop!

The children jumped him, and subdued him. But he had attracted Barnabas.

"Don't interfere." Megan said, holding his sleeve. "It has to be this way."

"Release him!"

Veronica put a knife against Joe Haskell's throat. "You better let us do." she warned Barnabas. "Don't risk this one's life to save a traitor to our kind."

By then the other guests had come, and Julia could see what was done to Richard.

"What do you want with him?" she cried. "Why? Release him!"

"Julia" Megan tried to restrain her. "He will have his chance in court."

The children rushed Richard out. "You come with us. Do not make us hurt Julia."

Richard looked pleadingly at hem, shaking his head.

"You better go." she told him. "I will do what I can to defend you... You will have a trial."

The others were coming closer, wanting to know what the commotion was about.

Among them was Iris.

Violet willed herself to move.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Barnabas, the children, Megan, were facing each other. The children hissed, their fangs bared.

The guests came closer, oblivious to any danger that might come to them. Iris was so close now..

Violet pulled her knife and pounced on her. She struck Iris. Once. Twice, Three times.

Iris screamed and fell. Violet brandisher her knife and ran, throwing furniture on the path of her pursuers.

They ran after her, as she reached the stairss and raced up. Tammy was leading the pack.

Barnabas held Iris, noting that she was still alive.

"Call an ambulance" he told Urien.

George once he knew that Iris was still alive joined the pursuers, gun in hand. Too many people, could not get a clear shot.

"Too messy" Veronica lamented to Megan, who was restraining Julia " we should have tied her up. Or at least frisked her. We are sorry for this... It was supposed to be quick and easy and now..."

"Now, you screwed up... Just get him out of here, fast."... Megan thought that growing up had dulled Veronica's edge... Well, she might get over it, or she might not. She had trouble enough of her own.

Violet, from upstairs, threw chairs and heavy objects to her pursuers. One of them hit Joe Haskell who tumbled down the stairs.

George hung back, letting the others hide him. He needed a clear shot. Needed a good angle. He crouched among the furniture. He was not going to take Violet alive... She was too dangerous.

Tammy was close to Violet, and was about to reach her. Violet grabbed her by the hair, pulled her head up and placed the knife on her throat.

"You let me go or she dies." She said.

They stopped. George hoped that Violet did not see him. That was it. He was taking her out.

"Make way for me. Stand back."

They obeyed.

"This is your fault" Violet told Tammy " You betrayed Jake. You should have stayed with him. Joe had to be punished, and I punished him. Now I will punish you, as I punished Iris, for stealing my son."

Tammy protested. "You are mad."

"And you are a traitor to your race." She pressed the point of the knife against Tammy's throat. I will make you pay for what you did to Jake."

He had a good angle. He could avoid hitting Tammy. He would not get a better shot...

George pulled the trigger.

* * *

"How's Iris?"

"She'll live. She might well be in intensive care for a while. She was cut badly. But we got her to the hospital in time. Joe Haskell broke a bone but it will mend.. And Tammy was just traumatized. " Kenneth sighed. "What's going to happen to Richard now?"

"How's Julia?" George asked.

"Hysterical. What do you expect? You know what Richard means to her. Why did they do that?"

"Megan says that they are going to try him."

"Try him for what?"

"Trying to recruit them for the Mossad.. Basically for being an agent of the Mossad himself."

"What?"

"Seems that it is a crime for a vampire to work for any spy agency."

"Why should that be?"

"Because spy agencies can always use a few more vampires, and they do not recruit the willing. They blackmail and coerce the ones they find." George repeated what Megan had told him, after he had calmed down enough to listen to her reasons. "Basically, any vampire that works for a spy agency is supposed to deliver more of his kind into that slavery. That's what they accuse Richard of."

"But that's ridiculous."

"That's what Roxanne Drew was doing, and that's why Megan had her killed."

"And they will kill Richard too."

"After a trial."

"How nice. But they will kill him. How do I tell that to Julia?"

"Megan says that there is a chance for him."

"Megan! She set it up, didn't she?"

"She had to. She has to abide by the laws."

Kenneth grumbled that Willie should not have missed her heart in 1970.

* * *

"I guess that an apology will not be accepted." Megan said.

Barnabas eyes reproached her. "After the damage you did, what do you expect?"

"I did not know that Violet was hiding, that was not in the plan. It should have been done quickly and with no one knowing about it. We'd have just hustled him out of the back door, and he would have just disappeared."

"Why did you have to do it at all?

"It was self-defense. I am sorry that Julia had to find out. But we cannot allow to lose our freedom. It cost too much to have it."

"Freedom?"

"You don't know much about our kind, do you? I imagine that Angelique did not tell you much, and you did not find out later as you could not find anyone to tell you. We are ronin, you and I. and Verhoff. and the children, and a lot of them. Tom Jennings was not. Angelique was not, Roxanne was not, but we are."

"Ronin? What is that?"

"A samurai without a lord. Barnabas, vampires started as slaves of sorcerers. You were never grateful enough to Angelique for not making you her slave when she cursed you. She could have. Originally vampires were created by sorcerers to do their bidding. They did as they were told, and their need for blood tied them to the sorcerer who controlled their feeding. When the sorcerer was benevolent, and there were a few of those, the vampire fed unobtrusively and was put to do worthwhile things. But if the sorcerer was malevolent, the vampire was used to terrorize the population into blind obedience. As to what the vampire thought about it, no one cared. His or her job was to do as they were told, and be punished if they disobeyed... We were slaves then, Barnabas. Remember that. Until the power of the sorcerers was broken and vampires could walk free. And that's when they had to develop conscience of their own. It was not easy for those accustomed to terrorize others. Even if they wanted to start a new life, there were too many people who remembered the evil they had done on command... Well, it is done. We are free. We are ronin. And we will destroy any one who threatens to enslave us again. And if that means hurting Julia, so be it. I like my freedom, and you like yours. "

"It is wrong."

"Barnabas, you have killed in the past to protect yourself. Even when you really did not need to. Do I need to remind you of Carl Collins? So don't get high and mighty. I will try to help Richard. But if I have to choose between his life, and my freedom and that of any other ronin, then I will choose freedom."

"Great! Just great! And I will be the one to deal with Julia. She will never believe that I knew nothing of it. And if Richard dies..."

"Then she may sharpen a stake to use on you. I would advice you to move out of Collinsport before then. I know that I am leaving."

* * *

Violet's body lay in the mortuary. No one had come to claim it, no one to view it. Iris, who would have done it, was in the critical list in the hospital. Delia might have cared, but she was under lock and key.

So the only one looking at her was George Brant... Violet still wore Josette's dress, which was now ruined by the blood splattering it...

George gave her a disgusted look He should be able to feel pity for her since after all she had been mad. But he could not. There was too much misery left in her wake. He did not feel compassion.

"I hope you are glad." he said to her. "I hope you enjoy the damage you caused, in whatever corner of Hell you are now."

* * *

Will they kill Richard? What game is Patterson playing? Will Megan leave town? Will Quentin find Adam?

Stay tuned


End file.
